Children of the Invisible
by ScifigeekET
Summary: When the three children of the invisible man are together, there comes a family more powerful than the world has ever known. But how can they be together when their world has been torn apart?
1. Just Like Dad

"You think you're so much better than me!"

Jack winced, listening to the conversation from upstairs.

"I never said that!" his brother, Tyler, was responding. Though 'responding' seemed too civil a word for the harsh venom in his voice.

"You don't HAVE to say it! Just cuz you're older, you think you're in charge!" Crystal snarled.

Jack peeked out of his room. They were yelling again. It was typical of brother and sister. Though their family was anything but typical.

"What do you want me TO DO?" Tyler demanded. "I've tried EVERYTHING! Absolutely everything! We're never going to find him! Why can't you just GIVE UP?"

"Because he's OUR FATHER!" Crystal shrieked. "And I can't just stop LOOKING!"

"He left for a reason!" Tyler spat.

"EXACTLY! What was his reason? I have to know, Tyler!"

"And what about Jack?" Tyler snarled in reply. Jack winced. He hated it when they brought him into it. "Where do you think this crazy wild goose chase will get him? An EARLY GRAVE?"

"I NEVER ASKED YOU TO COME ALONG!"

Tyler took a step back. "Is that it, then?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "Are you going to leave us? _Just like dad?_" 

Crystal looked down. "Maybe that's my only choice." She went to the door and opened it, disappearing on her way out.

Jack went back in his room and closed the door, unable to watch anymore. He sat with his back to the door, tears falling steadily down his cheeks.

* * *

An hour later, Tyler came into Jack's room. "Hey." He whispered.

"Hi."

He stood awkwardly in the doorway for a moment. Jack said nothing, looking out with blank, emotionless eyes. Finally, Tyler sighed and spoke. "Look. Crystal was having a hard time, so…"

"She left." Jack took the words away from his brother. A tear fell from his eye.

Tyler swallowed. "You know?"

"I heard."

Tyler took a deep breath and slowly walked over to Jack's bed. He sat down next to his little brother's feet. "How much?"

"Everything." Jack replied.

Tyler nodded slowly, and there was silence.

* * *

Crystal walked over to the pay phone. She inserted a quarter, dialed the number, and waited.

The phone rang three times before someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Diane? It's Crystal."

"Crystal? Oh, thank goodness. Your brother said you'd gone and I…"

"Look. I know I said I'd never do this, but…" She sighed. "I need to see the records."

"The records? That's a pretty big favor, Crystal."

"I don't care what I have to do, just let me see them." Crystal hissed through clenched teeth. "Meet me here in an hour. I'm sure you can trace the call."

"Sure, sure. We already have."

Crystal rolled her eyes and hung up. Of course they'd already traced the call. It was exactly like them.

An hour later, a tall man with dark hair came up to her. "Are you Crystal?"

Crystal's eyes narrowed. "Who wants to know?"

The man lifted a finger, and a bright flame lit up the dark. "We need to talk."

Crystal nodded. Obviously, this was the man Diane had sent. She walked with him. They entered a small, blue car. Black would have seemed more suspicious than the whole situation already was.

"I'm sorry about this, Crystal." The man said. "The Company won't be happy with me."

He pulled something out of his pocket. Before Crystal had a chance to see what it was, the needle was in her arm. She cried out as the sedative entered her system. Slowly, her world turned black.

* * *

"I'm really sorry about that."

The man looked genuinely apologetic. Crystal wasn't buying it.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

He held his hands up, almost surrendering. "My name is Matt." He replied. "Matthew Erickson, if you want to be formal about it. I was sent to get you away from The Company."

"Why?"

"Because you're simply too powerful to fall into their hands." He replied. There was genuine fear in his eyes. "Far too powerful."

Crystal rolled her eyes. "Please. I can turn invisible. So what? It's not exactly end-of-the-world."

"Please, LISTEN. The Company will do ANYTHING to get to you. ANYTHING." He sighed. "You don't need to get the records." He handed her a piece of paper. "This is all they have."

Crystal's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she took the paper. Looking at it, she swallowed. "These are exact accounts?"

"To the letter." Matt replied. "Please. Don't go to Primatech. If you need something, I can help. But don't go NEAR them." He sighed. "I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you…" 

"Promised who?"

Matt looked at her. "Your father."

* * *

Crystal didn't know why she trusted Matt.

But she didn't call Diane again.

She ended up out on the street with nothing but a piece of paper and the word of a stranger that the information was correct. She sighed. Nothing for it. She had to follow it.

She read the first address and started walking. It would be a long night…

* * *

_Samuel looked at Crystal. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."_

_ "Dad… don't go! Please, don't go!"_

_ He smiled a watery smile, lifted up her chin, and looked into her eyes one last time._

_ Then, he turned around and disappeared into the night. Jack was looking from his room, through a crack in the door. Tyler was behind Crystal. Samuel had given him a 'goodbye, son', a pat on the back, and an 'I'm sorry.' He'd already said goodbye to Jack. Jack simply didn't want his father to see him cry, watching from his room, not saying a word._

_ Samuel hadn't simply disappeared into the shadows. Not like a normal person would, anyway. No, Samuel had disappeared, literally vanishing from sight, thanks to an ability that had appeared so long ago…_

Jack came back to the present and began to sob. He couldn't control the shift in time when he was like this. It was his 'gift.' His 'ability.' He could see through time itself.

But he couldn't change it.

Tyler raced over to him, a blur as he ran. That was HIS ability. A speed so great no normal human could manage it.

"You ok?" he asked in a concerned whisper.

"I'm FINE." Jack snapped, trying to push his brother off the bed, with no effect.

Tyler stood up. "All right, it's ok. I'll just… go, shall I?"

Jack nodded, crossing his arms. The last thing he wanted was for Tyler to see him cry. It would make him seem weak.

Tyler left, once more a blur in Jack's vision. The six-year-old sighed. He just wanted his father to come back. He wanted his sister to come back. He wanted his family again.

And yet, for some reason, it seemed almost selfish to say that to his older brother. Because, put simply, Tyler must want that more than he did.

* * *

Crystal looked at the street. Her breath caught in her throat. She was invisible; no one would see if she cried.

This was one of the last streets her father had been on. One of his last tracked movements before he disappeared entirely from the grid.

She sighed. He might have been there once, but not now. There was no sign of him.

A single tear found its way down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, annoyed with herself. She'd get no where if she always broke down crying…

She sighed and kept walking. One street down, a million to go…

* * *

"We've lost her, Diane."

"We haven't LOST HER." Diane hissed. "We're GOING to find her. It will just take time."

"Time is the one thing we don't have. We have our best trackers following her, but…" Scott shrugged.

"But NOTHING." Diane snapped. "I want her FOUND. NOW."

"Look, we're not the only ones looking for her." He sighed. "I heard that… HE'S on her trail."

Diane paled. "You don't mean…"

He nodded. "That's exactly what I mean."

Diane shook her head fiercely. "He'll never find her. She's invisible, for crying out loud!"

"And HE'S a shape shifter. He can easily trick her. Get her to reveal herself."

Diane swore. "How in the WORLD did HE find out about her?"

Scott looked down. "He saw the records."

Diane swore again. "WHEN?" She demanded. "HOW?"

"We don't know. But he found information. Information we were desperate to keep from him."

Diane began to pace furiously. "This isn't happening." She spat. "This CAN'T be happening."

"I'm afraid it is."

"Get EVERYONE out there. I don't care what you have to do. We need that girl and we need her here NOW."

"We're doing the best we can…"

"It's NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" She snarled. "I want EVERY special out there. I don't care WHAT they can do; they're out LOOKING, understood?"

Scott nodded quickly. "Yes, ma'am."

He was out the door in a heartbeat.

Diane pinched the bridge of her nose. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. THIS COULDN'T BE HAPPENING…

* * *

In the dark, he watched carefully. He blended in with the shadows.

He smiled as she appeared a short distance away. He looked at the file. It was definitely her. He looked up again, and she was gone.

A faint smile crossed his lips. This was going to be fun…


	2. Power

Crystal shivered. It was way too cold out here.

She turned visible and walked into the small, restaurant.

She sighed with relief. It was definitely warmer in here than it had been outside.

She looked around. It was a nice place, if a little small. The lights were dim, giving the room a warmer feel to it.

She liked the place already.

She sat down. A waitress, glad of the customer to keep her busy this late, hurried over to her. "Can I help you?"

Crystal thought it over. "Do have hot chocolate?"

The waitress beamed. "Sure thing." She went back to find it.

Crystal sighed and looked at her slowly decreasing roll of cash, pulling it out of her pocket just far enough for her to see it, while no one else could. She was actually pretty hungry, but she wanted to save as much money as she could. Hot chocolate seemed like the best answer; especially since it was so cold outside.

She heard the bell on the door ring as another person came in. She gave the newcomer a quick glance.

He was tall. Brown hair fell in his face, and he had the darkest eyes of anyone she'd ever seen.

He sat down at a table closer to the door. In her world, someone who did that was the kind of person who was always running. The last thing you wanted to do was condemn yourself simply because you weren't close enough to the escape route.

But then, he probably wasn't part of that world. 

The waitress hurried over to him as well. Crystal couldn't hear what they said, but she left smiling.

The man looked at her for a long time. Crystal shivered. If he kept it up, she'd end up losing control and disappearing.

Finally, he spoke up. "You really do look like your father."

Crystal swallowed. "I'm nothing like him." She replied, refusing to give him the satisfaction of thinking he'd surprised her.

The man raised an eyebrow. "You have his eyes."

Crystal glared at him. "So? What I look like doesn't matter."

He chuckled. "Yeah. He was stubborn, too."

Crystal rolled her eyes and looked away. There was silence, and the waitress brought her hot chocolate, smiled at the man, then disappeared again.

The man sighed. "Look. I know you aren't really happy with what you're father's done…"

"He left me." Crystal said coldly. "Can you find a child in the world who's happy with their parents for doing that?"

The man chuckled. "I wasn't."

She turned around and looked at him. "Who are you?" She demanded.

He smiled. "Now we get straight to the point."

"That's not an answer."

He nodded slowly. "Fair enough. My name is Gabriel Gray."

* * *

Sylar smiled inwardly. This girl had no idea what she was dealing with. Of course, that was where shape-shifting was useful. If she ever found out what his real form was, she'd never guess it was HIM.

He chuckled. "It's been a while since I've seen your father. A few years, maybe?" 

He noticed Crystal was biting her lip. "That's impossible. I would have seen you."

He shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"No."

"Then we have nothing further to discuss."

He sighed. "He told me to look after you. All of you. Tyler, you and Jack. And I'm going to keep that promise."

"And just how do you plan on doing that? You can't SEE ME."

She disappeared suddenly. The door opened.

"I don't need to." He replied coldly. "When you're ready to talk, you'll find me."

The door stayed open for a minute, then widened and finally closed as she left, the hot chocolate taken from the counter, invisible in her hand. She'd left some money on the counter.

A plate crashed to the floor.

Sylar turned to face the shocked waitress. She must have come in unnoticed when Crystal had turned invisible.

Sylar smiled darkly, almost feeling sorry for her.

Almost.

* * *

It was best that the waitress died.

And that anyone else who had come in that room had died as well.

He really saved himself a lot of problems. A lot of questions that needed answering.

That was the problem with most heroes. They could have avoided a lot of unnecessary confrontations.

He smirked and shifted to his original form. He glanced at his hands. They were covered in blood. He sighed. He'd have to get rid of that relatively quickly.

He walked into an alleyway, then, out of sight, took to the air.

He briefly considered going back and looking for Crystal. It would be easy enough to get her to reveal herself. Then it would all be over…

But he couldn't. There were bigger things then just her. There were more heroes than just this one.

There were three.

Crystal. Tyler. Jack. He had the names memorized. They were the names of people, people who had power.

Power that could bring the world to its downfall…

* * *

"You know why I'm here."

Her voice was soft, unreal.

"There's nothing you can do." Sylar replied. He tried to spit out the words, but it was practically impossible. This woman held such an air of grace and dignity that the venom in his words died in his throat. "Why do you keep trying?"

Her brilliant, dark eyes landed on his. "Because I want to help you, Sylar. I don't want what happened to me to happen to you."

Sylar scoffed. "And why do you care what happens to me? You are immortal. Invincible!"

"And unloved. Alone."

Sylar rolled his eyes. "And why would I care about being alone?"

"Because time can drive you insane." She hissed.

Sylar took a step back, surprised by the ferocity in her eyes.

"Listen, PLEASE! For your sake!" Her voice was urgent. "This power was never meant for one person! It will be your death!"

Sylar's eyes hardened. "I can't die."

"Nor can I." She replied. "And yet, here I am. While I may be still alive, I am, in my own way, dead. Because I have seen far more than anyone ever should. And I could change nothing."

Sylar sighed theatrically. "And you think that's such a bad thing?"

"This destroys you on a level even I don't completely understand, Sylar."

Sylar snorted and turned around, walking away from her. "It doesn't matter to me. These children have no chance."

"And what of the speedster? You think you can stop him?"

"He has no idea of his potential. It will be easy enough."

"And the youngest? It's difficult to find those who can see the future."

"The girl will lead me to them both."

"But how will you find her?"

"I'm a shape shifter. It's not exactly impossible."

She nodded. "You have obviously thought this through."

Sylar laughed darkly and turned around, facing her once more. "Of course."

She sighed. "So had I, Sylar. Believe me." Her eyes locked on his. "I'll give you a warning. It's up to you to decide weather or not to listen to it.

"If you kill these children, if you take their power, I can promise you that your love of power will never die. It will scream in your head forever, ordering you to kill. It will never get better. It can only get worse. That desperate need that you feel now is nothing compared to what will happen as you travel through the depths of time and space."

Sylar smirked. "I can live with that."

Suddenly, she was right next to him, barely a foot away. Not even that. "Can you? Listen, Sylar. Just listen. Hear it call you. Hear it take control of your thoughts. Your mind. Hear it control you. Now imagine that. Forever. It will never go away. No matter how much power you have, no matter how many times you kill, it can only get worse. Much worse."

And then she was gone. She disappeared into thin air in front of him.

Sylar rolled his eyes and turned around. He had to find Crystal again.

He needed that power.


	3. The Red Dawn

"There are three." Matt was explaining. "Tyler, Crystal, and Jack."

The blind man buried his face in his hands. "How could this HAPPEN?" he hissed. "We were promised…"

Concern filled Matt's eyes. "What do you think we should do?"

"Do? There is nothing we CAN do. This is up to them." 

"But if Sylar's on their trail…"

"What happens will happen. It has happened before, and so it shall again."

Matt shook his head. "I can't just take that, sir. They're only children."

The man glared at him through sightless eyes. "So were the others. But they are far too powerful."

"Exactly! If Sylar gets a hold of their abilities…"

"Then Sylar gets hold of their abilities, and we can all go home." He replied.

Matt's eyes widened. "Samuel, these are YOUR children! How could you even think like that?"

Samuel turned to face him. "Because they have to find out about their abilities by themselves."

"And if they DON'T?"

"Then there is no hope for them. The past repeats itself, and time goes back to its own devices."

The flame-controller glared at Samuel. "Well, I'm sorry. But I can't stand by and just watch them DIE. I won't."

Samuel nodded slowly. "Then your fate is sealed in the secrets of time."

Matt sighed and walked out the door, fury seeping through him. If Samuel wouldn't help, then he would.

Samuel sighed. He really did care about his children. But he knew. If they didn't find this out for themselves, they would die. It was that simple.

* * *

_Jack swallowed as the fire blazed around his brother. "TYLER!" He called, his voice panicked._

_ Abruptly, the fire stopped._

_ The flame-controller swore, shock filling his features. "No." He whispered._

_ But Jack wasn't listening. He could see himself, like he could when looking through time, walking towards his brother. "TYLER! NO!" he dropped down next to him._

_ Tyler's breathing was harsh, cut off at random intervals as he struggled to stay alive. "J-J-J-Jack…"_

_ "I'm here." Jack breathed. "I'm here."_

_ Slowly, Tyler's breathing began to slow. His eyes glazed over as the blaze took its effect._

_ Tyler was dead._

Jack snapped awake, crying out as he did so. "NO!"

Tyler, in the other room, was at his side in half a second as Jack began sobbing. His arms were around his brother's shoulders in the other half. "Shh, shh, shh, it's ok. It's ok… It was just a nightmare… You're ok, you're ok."

Jack was sobbing too hard to point out that it wasn't himself he was worried about, but Tyler. "It can't be, it can't be." He cried out in whispers.

"It's ok." Tyler promised. "It's ok. Nothing's wrong. It was just a nightmare, all right? You're fine, you're fine…"

"NO!" Jack cried. "It wasn't a nightmare, it wasn't a dream! It was REAL!"

Tyler tried to hold his brother at arm's length, but found it was impossible as Jack wrapped his arms around him. "You can't die. You can't die!"

"Woah woah woah." Tyler looked at Jack as well as he could. "Who said anything about me dying?"

Jack pulled himself away from his brother, whispering his words carefully. "It was the future."

Tyler looked at him, now a small measure of fear in his eyes. "Jack, what happened?"

"You were burning." Jack's eyes glazed over, like they always did when he was looking through time. "The fire was made by a hero, like us."

Suddenly, his glazed eyes locked on Tyler's, though they seemed as though they were looking far away. When he spoke again, though his words were whispered, they held a darkness to them. It was though it wasn't Jack speaking, but time itself.

_"There are three children of the invisible man._

_ One is lost and far away._

_ One is terrified._

_ One is confused. _

_ And one is waiting._

_ Biding his time until the Red Dawn comes."_

* * *

Sylar smirked as Crystal made herself visible.

"You can't hide from me." He told her.

She whirled around, swearing in surprise as she did so. When she saw him, she relaxed slightly. "Are you following me?" She demanded.

He shrugged, not bothering to fake innocence. "I promised your father, Crystal. Do you want me to betray that promise?"

She glared at him. "I don't care what my father told you." She spat. "Quite honestly, I don't really care about HIM."

He chuckled darkly. "Then why are you trying so desperately to find him?"

For that, Crystal had no answer.

* * *

"Samuel?"

The young boy entered the room.

Samuel shook his head. "Not now, Ryan. I'm busy."

Suddenly, a much older voice joined the conversation. "Hello, Samuel."

Samuel whirled around, simply out of instinct, though his eyes wouldn't tell him much.

"It's me." He continued. "Ryan."

Samuel's sightless eyes widened. "Impossible." He breathed. "IMPOSSIBLE."

"Not impossible." Ryan hissed. "You've LIED to me." Pain filled his voice.

Samuel sighed and turned to the little boy. "Ryan?"

"Yes?" The boy replied.

"Why don't you give us a moment? We need to talk."

"Sure thing." He replied, exiting the room. When he was gone, Samuel turned back to the adult Ryan. "Now. What do you need?"

He glared at the blind man. "I need to know why you lied to me. Why you've always been LYING to me."

"Because I had to. Don't you realize what it's taken for me to protect you?"

"PROTECT us? You LEFT! You left Crystal, Tyler and Jack. You took me away from my home, away from my FAMILY. How can you possibly think that you did the right thing? That you protected us?"

"You were far too powerful for your own good! If I didn't do what I did, you could very well be dead by now!"

"Who are you more terrified of? Me, or SYLAR? Or what about THE COMPANY? Because those people have been on our trail the MOMENT you left."

"It is what HAD TO HAPPEN!" Samuel spat. "I could do nothing!"

"You could!" Pain filled Ryan's voice. "There's always another way! ALWAYS!"

Samuel sighed. "I'm sorry, Ryan. I really am. But there wasn't another way. If there was, I would have known it."

"NO!" Ryan spat. "No, you wouldn't have. Because you wouldn't want to think about it long enough to TRY and find a different solution."

"EXACTLY! Because it hurt too bad to think that there might not be a better way!"

Ryan glared at the man. "You don't know ANYTHING." He hissed. "You never have."

"What do you expect me to do, Ryan? What do you honestly THINK I can DO?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Ryan snarled. "BUT THERE'S ALWAYS ANOTHER WAY! ALWAYS!"

"NOT THIS TIME!"

In the other room, the younger Ryan was sobbing. What could possibly be so important that they had to YELL? He knew enough about abilities to know that this man was him, only from the future. After all, he had an ability of his own.

But how could he argue with the man who had always been his family? Who had always taken care of him?

His hands began to glow. Tears ran down his face. "I know." He whispered to his hands. "I know. You want to help. I want to help. I always…" He chocked. "I just… want. To. Help." He tried to keep his tears back long enough to finish, but his words kept breaking. He hid his glowing hands. It was who he was. A person who helped, no matter what.

But the adults were still arguing.

"This is getting us no where!" Samuel snarled.

"Well good! I have nowhere to GO!" Ryan spat back.

"I don't understand! What happened to you?"

"What ELSE? We found out!"

"HOW? How could you find out?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ryan snarled, his hands suddenly on Samuel's collar, holding him up to the wall. His glowing hands. "Wouldn't you like to know how your plan FAILED?"

"It didn't FAIL!" Samuel hissed. "If you found out, it worked perfectly!"

Ryan looked at him for a long time. The glow in his hands died. "There was something you didn't think of. Something you couldn't plan for."

His eyes locked on Samuel's. "The Red Dawn is coming."


	4. Ryan

Ryan smiled. "You need anything? A glass of water…?" He turned to face Sylar.

Sylar raised an eyebrow.

Ryan shrugged. "It helps after you've been shot." He replied, gesturing to Sylar's shirt, which was covered in bullet holes and blood.

"I'm fine." Sylar replied, looking at the pictures hanging on the wall. He pointed to one. "You?"

Ryan nodded. "With my brothers and sister, yes."

The other eyebrow shot up. "I see none of them are any older than they are now."

Ryan smiled. "Just because I know if they make it to adulthood, doesn't mean everyone else needs to know."

Sylar lifted a picture, let it hover in front of his face for a moment, then set it down. "I suppose…"

"Of course, no one can kill me." Ryan continued. "So you can see pictures of me ageing, just not my siblings. Because it's quite possible you will kill them when the Red Dawn comes."

"So it's not hopeless?"

"Of course not!" Ryan snapped, almost angry. "You really believe it's hopeless? Please." He rolled his eyes.

"Whose side are you on?" Sylar demanded, confused as to why Ryan was seemingly supporting him in his desperation to kill his siblings.

"Their side, of course. But you have to understand. The Red Dawn includes all of you. If you give up, neither of the two possible futures could exist." He sighed. "I suppose you'll have to figure it out for yourself."

"Apparently."

For a while, no one spoke. Finally, Ryan looked at him. "Are you sure you don't want anything? Seriously, it really helps to have some water after you've just been shot. I would know."

Sylar looked at him, still slightly thrown off by how calm Ryan was about everything. "Do you even know why I'm here?" He demanded at last.

"Of course! But just because you want to take my ability, doesn't mean I have to be _rude._" He snorted. "It's not like you can kill me. I doubt it will even hurt."

Sylar looked at him, confusion plain on his face. "You could kill me with one touch. Why don't you?"

"I can?" Ryan's eyes widened in shock, then settled down as he remembered. "Oh, yes. You're right, of course. I haven't thought about that in years. Not since I had that fight with Samuel. In fact, but my calculations, that should be happening right about…" he looked at his watch, then at his calendar then back to his watch. He frowned. "Now. That's odd." He looked back to Sylar. "But what would be the point, anyway? If I killed you, you'd just heal and come back to life again."

Despite his efforts to keep his face blank, Sylar's eyes were wide. "You're not going to try and fight me about this? At all?"

"Fight you? Are you serious? I'd lose!" Ryan laughed. "My ability, for the most part, is purely defensive. I'm useless without my family. Now, if I was a teleporter, or a speedster, or even radioactive, I might have a chance. As it is, I'm hardly able to fight anyone, let alone _you._"

Sylar looked at him for a long time, and the silence stretched on.

* * *

Minutes later, Ryan was lying down on the floor. Sylar was sitting down next to his head, looking for the information he needed about Ryan's ability.

"You don't seem to have many questions." Sylar said at last.

"What questions would I have?"

"I don't know." Sylar admitted. "I just can't help remembering a certain cheerleader who wouldn't shut up."

Ryan laughed. "Claire?"

"Who else?"

Ryan continued to smile. "Her version of the story is slightly different."

"Of course." Sylar snorted. He kept looking.

Ryan sighed. "How long will this take? I have to be somewhere soon, and they'll get worried if I'm not there."

"That depends." Sylar replied.

"On…?"

"On how long it takes for me to find what I need."

Ryan sighed again. "And, normally, how long does that take."

Sylar thought for a moment. "Not long. Half an hour, maybe?"

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. That gives me time to change this shirt, which you so tastefully ruined." He lifted his head to look at the blood-soaked shirt.

Sylar pushed his head back down. "Hold still."

Ryan obeyed with a sarcastic, "Yes sir."

Sylar smiled. He was beginning to like Ryan. He was fearless, impossible to phase.

The silence stretched on.

"Found it yet?"

"No."

Ryan sighed. Silence again, and then, "So… I'm curious."

Sylar sighed theatrically. "Here we go with the questions."

Ryan grinned. "Just one, actually. Why didn't you aim for the slightly… younger version of me?"

"Because little kids panic too easily. Besides, he has Samuel protecting him."

"Makes sense. And the other one? The one that's a few years younger?"

Sylar rolled his eyes. "He'd put up too much of a fight."

"So you knew how I'd react?"

"No. But I figured it wouldn't be quite as violent as a version of you who was just in an argument."

"Fair point. But how did you know I was in an argument."

"You told me."

Ryan grinned. "You didn't know there were three versions of me out there, did you? You thought it was just me and the kid."

Sylar sighed. "Yes."

"You're not as informed as you'd like to think."

"Perhaps." He was starting to get a little irritated. "But that doesn't matter."

Ryan tried to shrug, which didn't work too well. "You're right. It doesn't. You know enough for the Red Dawn to happen."

"So that's what this is about."

"Of course." Ryan snorted. "What else? The Red Dawn means everything at this point."

"So what is it?"

"The Red Dawn?" Ryan thought about that for a moment. "You're not just here for the ability, I take it."

"Of course not."

Ryan sighed. "Very well. I'll tell you everything I can. _After _you've finished."

Sylar sighed and continued to look.

Finally, he sat up. "Done."

Ryan tried to sit up quickly, but the color drained from his face. He fell back. "Dizzy."

"Blood loss will do that to a person." Sylar replied as he walked over to the sink, washing Ryan's blood down the drain.

Ryan sat still for a moment, then sat up. His face was still pale, but he was able to stand after a few seconds. He shook his head. "That's better." He walked to the other room and closed the door. When he came back, he was wearing a new shirt, which held considerably less blood. Sylar had finished washing his hands, though crimson still stained the sink.

"You might want to bleach that." He told Ryan.

Ryan nodded. "Are you sure you don't want any water? It really helps."

"No."

Ryan tossed the glass towards him anyway. Reflexively, Sylar caught it telekinetically. Ryan looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

Finally, Sylar sighed and brought the glass towards him, mumbling a quick "Thanks" Before drinking it.

Ryan smiled. "Better?"

"No." Sylar lied.

Ryan's smile stretched into a grin. "Really? It always works for me. Gets rid of that metallic taste in the back of your throat." His face twisted in disgust just remembering.

Sylar looked at him. "You were going to tell me about the Red Dawn." He said, ending further conversation about anything else.

Ryan nodded. "Oh, fine. If you want to be impatient." He sat down, and motioned for Sylar to do the same in the chair across from him. Sylar obeyed.

Ryan cleared his throat. "The Red Dawn is one person's point of view. Only that person will know when the Red Dawn comes."

"And that person is…?"

"Tyler."

Sylar raised an eyebrow. "The speedster?"

Ryan nodded. "The very same."

Sylar sighed and motioned for him to continue.

"Now. The Red Dawn is a collision. It's where two possible futures meet, and a series of choices will decide the outcome. Every single choice will create a different part of the future. It's a very delicate part in history, and it's very easy to create the worst possible future."

"And what are the choices?"

"That you have to find out."

Sylar sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And the two possible futures?"

"The two _main _possible futures." Ryan corrected. "Either you kill the entire family, and take their abilities…"

Sylar smiled softly. "Or…?"

"Or they discover who they are, and they become the most powerful heroes the worlds have ever known."

Sylar paled. "And what will happen to me?"

"You will have no chance at taking their abilities. If you are not killed…"

"Killed?" Sylar demanded.

"It's one of the choices that must be made. Part of that certain future."

Sylar sighed. "So if I don't kill them... I die?"

Ryan shook his head quickly. "No. that is only one possible outcome. Most likely, you'll be fine, just without any more abilities."

Sylar looked at him for a long time. "And what else? When will it happen?"

Ryan raised his hand, cutting Sylar off. "I'm sorry. There's nothing more I can tell you. That's it."

Sylar's eyes locked on Ryan's, and there was silence for a long time. Finally, he stood up.

"Goodbye, Ryan."

"Goodbye, Sylar."

And Sylar left without another word.


End file.
